


The Snow Dragon

by Gallusadin



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2021-01-06 02:42:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21219251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gallusadin/pseuds/Gallusadin
Summary: The first in a daily series of writing prompts i'm working on in an attempt to sharpen my writing skills, I'm posting them for the world to see because I am a masochist.





	The Snow Dragon

10 / 28 / 19 - “The Snow Dragon” You are in the mountain forest when you come face to face with the snow dragon: an adorable, furry, and surprisingly tiny creature who breathes fire.  
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Snow and leaves lept from the hard dirt ground of the Eversong forest as though a gale had torn through the trees; a shrill cry echoed out of the boughs, causing bird and beast alike to scurry in fear as a raucous display of sibling rivalry took full force under the shade of winter tree. The young Hargrave twins, full of fight, exchanged blows and headlocks in the fresh snow, leaving a trail indistinguishable from that of a grizzly. 

“Ye leave me alone ye brute!” barked Amil Hargrave, the younger of the brothers; “or i’ll tell Ma what ye did to her flowers!” he cried; balling a fist and launching a right hook into his elder brothers gut.

Gavin Hargrave, the older of the two, and standing nearly five and a half feet tall at the young age of twelve, took the poorly executed hit in stride, and grabbed his hopelessly outmatched brothers shoulders.

“You wouldn’t dare” he growled through his teeth, flashing a menacing grin, and burrowing his dark gaze into the defiant blue eyes of Amil. “Now, call me King of the Everso-!” He began to cry victoriously before the breath was stolen from him as a head of tousled blonde hair launched into his chest, and a deft foot swept his balance out from underneath him. Though nearly a foot shorter; and two years the younger, Amil was a fierce fighter and would not let his brothers challenge go unmet. The two clashing brothers fell to the snowy floor, exchanging curses and grunts and fists as they rolled through the otherwise silent forest. 

The brothers would not relent, and in the heat of their eternal conflict they could not have noticed the forest’s edge come to a steep, precarious drop. Though it isn’t likely they would have called a ceasefire even if they had. Growls of combat quickly shifted to the cries of young children in more trouble than they could handle as the young boys tumbled down the snow banks to the valley below. For what seemed like minutes they fell, kicking up snow and scaring away what little of the forests wildlife remained interested in their conflict. When finally they came to a crash at the bottom of the hill, for the first time that day, all remained still.

The breeze could once again be heard whistling through the pine and it was many moments before Gavin Hargrave slowly began to rise, shaking the snow out of his clothes and hair, and gathering his bearings. The younger brother was less quick to recover from the perilous fall, though that did little to stop Gavins relentless march. 

“Wait” cried Amil, holding his outstretched palms forward in resistance as his brothers fingers laced in his hair. “We don’t even know where we are ye dummy!” he shouted, launching a foot into his brothers gut and knocking him to the floor with a loud crunch of snow. For the first time since before the fall, the two brothers looked at each other, and started to laugh. 

“You’re right Amil” admitted the sore elder, rubbing his head and regretting the last hit he took to the stomach. Gazing up the hill they had fallen, nearly thirty feet he reckoned, their predicament started to come to focus. “I think this is the riverbed that follows the forest to the west” he pondered aloud, tracing a finger up through the valley to the north. “We’ve come much farther than Pa said we could”

“No thanks to you!” teased defiant Amil, earning a scowl from his brother. It was true that it had been Gavins idea to follow the forest deeper than they had ever gone, but there had been no chores to do for the day, and they had gotten a head start; surely they could make it home before they would be spanked. 

“Look at the sun” geastured Gavin, pointing to the golden orb in the sky that had begun to fall to the west. “It’s nearly Even’in, we need to get back up this hill!” he declared, marching towards the intimidating mound.

“But how!?” came the cry from behind, as tiny feet hurried to keep up with the bold strides of the older brother. “Gavin that won’t work!” Amil protested as Gavin had begun digging handholds into the snowy bank, his wool gloves getting saturated with snow and ice. Running up alongside his foolhardy brother to try and stop him, Amil grabbed Gavins arm before realizing that his brother had stopped digging, had stopped moving altogether. 

“What is it?..” Amil asked quietly, noting the wide eyed stare in his brothers usually focused eyes. Gavins mouth opened, but no words came out as he pointed to the snow bank below, with a trembling hand. Just before their feet, two radiant eyes of ice blue formed in the disturbed snow, peering at the young boys with a curiosity that froze Gavin where he stood. 

“What IS that?” Amil asked again, with a much greater curiosity and fascination; dropping to his knees and stirring the snow around the seemingly disembodied eyes. “I’ve never seen anything like this” he remarked.

As if in response to the young boys question, the snow beneath their feet began to shift and swirl in a grand, clockwise motion. Gavin cried out and lept back, off the bank, and held fast to the trunk of a nearby pine. “Amil get away!” he shouted as the shimmering snow began to rise into the crisp air. Amil stood awestruck as the light from the setting sun reflected off the thousands of individual snowflakes now swirling around him like a gentle whirlpool of ice. The snow around the bright blue eyes began to coalesce and rise from the ground, taking shape as the shimmering flakes in the air raced to join with the greater body of this strange, fantastical creature. 

Appearing nearly two feet tall and three feet long, a squat, fat quadruped with supple ivory fur clawed its way out of the snow. A head nearly as long as it is tall, with a wide, toothed maw; short, feathered wings far too small to bear the creatures weight, and of course, those ice blue diamond eyes. It was a creature that could be described as hideous, or endearing, depending on the proclivities of those who viewed it. Fully manifesting from the snowbank, the beast opened its toothy maw and let out a cry that sounded like something between a parrot and a lion.

“Amil, get back!” ordered Gavin loudly as the strange beast took a few lumbering steps towards the awestruck younger brother, As bulky as this monster appeared, it left no tracks in the snow. The continued protests to flee faded into the background as fascination took over. For all his brothers hollering, Amil didn’t think the creature dangerous at all, and dropped to a knee; beaconing the creature towards him with an outstretched hand and soft clicking noises. Tentatively, the beast bowed its head and approached Amil, its ivory fur reflecting sunlight and snow in such a way that the strange creature appeared to glide through the air, though its wings were clearly useless. When at last the two had come within reach, Amil reach down to run his deft fingers through the beasts supple fur. Underneath a surface of frigid cold the creature resonated a deep, powerful heat and once again the small, hippo like creature let out its bizarre cry; though this time it could be clearly heard as a purr. 

Many moments passed between the two; Amil pausing to regard the creatures clear, ice blue eyes and fantastic shape. “Gavin” he called out cheerfully to his brother, who had now taken his first tentative steps towards the otherworldly beast, “I think it wants to be friends” Amil continued, now confidently tussling the scruff of the beasts coast playfull.

“No you idiot” Gavin scolded, “You’re not gonna be friends with a monster” he said, grabbing his brothers wrist and trying to pull him up to his feet; the beast, startled by this rash display, toppled over and lay on its back.

“And why not!?” protested Amil, wrestling his arm away from his brothers grip, and returning to his new friend.

“Because i’ll tell mom” argued Gavin, “and besides, we don’t even know what that thing is” He regarded the beast again, certainly less intimidating lying on its back like a roll of cooking dough, or an egg with wings; and those blue eyes certainly didn’t promise malice.

“I think its a dragon” Amil mused aloud, struggling to roll the heavy beast back to its feet. 

“A dragon?!” balked Gavin, now coming to his brothers side “you really don’t have any brains at all do you?” Sitting the creature up on its rear end they both regarded it intently. It certainly didn't look like any of the dragons of legend. Dragons were taller than a castle, fearsome, with wings that could block out the sun.

“Besides” Gavin started confidently, “All dragons can breathe fire, and this dumb thing can’t even -” 

His retort was cut short as the creature issued a loud belch that cast a billowing cloud of enchanting blue flames, the ends of which curled into snowflakes. Gavin, in shock and awe once again, fell back.

“See?” chuckled an ecstatic Amil, “He’s a dragon”

“Now what are we gonna name him?


End file.
